CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, May 6, 2023
The Hudson Valley Community College men's and women's track and field programs had a great day at the final day of the NJCAA Region 3 Championships, hosted by HVCC at the Outdoor Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon with the men's program winning the 2023 Region 3 Championship with a total team score of 228, which was 99 points ahead of second place, the Herkimer Generals.
The men's team had 11 individuals earn wins in 10 events (including relays), which was highlighted by Charles Benichoux's dominating performances in the men's 100m and 200m events. Benichoux won the 100m dash with a time of 10.80 seconds, which was nearly an entire second ahead of the second-place finisher. He won the men's 200m event with a time of 22.32 seconds and outpaced the next sprinter by 1.6 seconds.
Demetrius Williams ran well in the men's 110m hurdles event as he won and recorded 10 team points after posting a final time of 16.02 seconds. Williams followed suit in the men's 400m hurdles event with another win as he completed the event with an official time of 58.01 seconds.
The men's 4x100 relay team of Jonathan Hanna, Dylan Lawless, Brooks Robson and Daniel Honsinger won the event and gave the team 10 points to their total. The foursome outpaced the second place Onondaga relay by nearly 1.5 seconds for a decisive win. Brooke Robson also tallied a wins in the men's long jump event with a final distance of 6.55m and the men's triple jump with a distance of 13.97m.
The men's 4x400 relay team also won as Anthony Johnson, Ben Ross, Xavier Hughes and Charles Benichoux tallied a final time of 3:39.08.
Jalen Graham earned a win in the men's discus throw, tossing an official distance of 38.95m. Graham also collected eight team points in the men's shot put with a second-place finish following his throw of 12.12m.
In the men's hammer throw, the Vikings earned a complete sweep as they finished first, second and third in the event. Jalen Graham placed first overall with a toss of 41.36m and Robert Fitzgerald placed second to earn eight team points following a distance of 36.25m. Rounding out the top-three was Guerin Dupuis, who placed third with a throw of 31.22m. Aiden Alaxanian earned eight team points in the men's javelin as he placed second overall with a throw of 37.24m.
The women's program placed fourth overall as they scored 100 team points and had great performances by all members of the program. Ellicia Swedish won the women's 3,000m steeplechase event and she posted an official time of 17:38.49.
Sanbegoure Meda placed third overall in the women's 400m dash and posted an official time of 1:10.03. Alyssa Bruno tied for first overall overall in the women's high jump as she jumped 1.44m. Bruno also placed second in the women's javelin with a throw of 18.96m.
Sophie Ericson qualified for nationals in the women's discus after she placed second overall with an official throw of 28.59m. Isabella Guyer placed fourth in the same event with a throw of 21.76m. Ericson tallied points in the women's shot put with a distance of 7.73m and Guyer placed fifth in the shot put with a distance of 6.65m. Guyer did win the women's hammer throw as she launched the hammer 25.33m to accumulate 10 team points in the event.
Up next for the track and field programs is a trip to the NJCAA National Championships on May 11-13 in Utica, NY (hosted by Mohawk Valley).